Café Tacuba fans finally got their dose from Mexico’s favorite foursome. No doubt the band seems to get more mellow with every tour, the euphoria that accompanies their classic, older songs make the almost 3 hour event a great night for their fans. And whose idea was it to have local band, Caoba as their opener? Obviously Cafeta fans have high Latin musica standards and Caoba did not meet them. The audience was brutal to the off-key singer and his band mates, and after the third song, the “boos” were chanted over and over without mercy. They didn’t give a damn even after Caoba tried screaming out ““Cafeeeeeeeeee Taccccccvbbbbba.” Sorry guys, maybe next time.
You can’t argue with 20 years of Tacuba music, fans both old and new remain loyal and unconditional. “Si es tu primera vez, te va a encantar el concierto, te lo juro,” 23-year-old José Alberto Salinas said as if his life depended on it. This was Salinas fourth time seeing Café Tacuba in concert and says every one of them is just as exciting as the last. “Me fascina, esta banda es la mejor de rock latino,” Salinas added.
When blinding bright white lights and guitar sounds exploded off the stage at 10:30PM, fans screamed and pushed off each other with excitement. The adrenaline was pumped when Café Tacuba’s petite frontman Ruben Albarrán, currently known as “Ixaya Mazatzin Tleyótl,” made his way toward the front of the stage wearing that bad-ass white on white feathered hat and suit ensemble. Café Tacuba started the show with the first mellow “Seguir Siendo”, from their latest album Sino (Universal, 2007), whose tempo picked up and had the crowd go wild.
With Quique and Joselo rocking out on the bass and the guitar, Meme multi-tasking on vocals, guitar and keyboards and Ruben singing and dancing his heart out, fans were consumed by the high energy and mistaking their heartbeats for the heavy bass that throbbed out from the 6-feet tall ground speakers. Café Tacuba continued the party with many subdued songs from Sino while throwing in old favorites midway such as “No controles” and “La Ingrata” to get the crowds jumping.
The audience was feeling good and like any fan knows, Café Tacuba’s music touches on every emotion whether it is about love, pain, dreams, failure or success. With the concert being just a few days after our country voted for change on election Tuesday, Ruben reminded fans how important it is to take time out to enjoy life and not be consumed in so much work and worry. “Todo el stress, todo el pedo, sale por aquí,” Albarrán said. With a huge grin, the tiny singer lifted his own arms up and waved any bad energy out of his armpits.
Café Tacuba ended their set by leaving it up to the fans to decide which songs should be sung, and naturally among the list were the popular “Maria”, “Las Persianas”, “Rarotonga”, and “Como Te Extraño.” Never mind that Cafe Tacuba was the most nominated artist at this year’s Latin Grammys Awards for Sino. Fans want their old favorites. The Aragon Ballroom was filled with sweat, song, dance and the well-respected and loved Café Tacuba only asked that their fans forget their worries and escape into this happy place they created with music.
Just before 1AM, Rubén, Meme, Quique and Joselo showed their gratitude to their fans by spending about 5 minutes on stage waving goodbye, bowing, blowing out kisses and even posing for some pictures. Whether it was your first time or fifth time seeing Café Tacuba, their show left you exhausted and ready for sweet dreams about their next show. “No es cierto que vivimos por vivir, sino vivimos para soñar,” Rubén reminded his fans.